Three pieces of news came this week, all centered around seas: the south pole of Mars has enough frozen water to cover the planet in a sea three fathoms deep; Titan seems to have methane and ethane seas; and there is now a geological map of Europa, detailing the fractures that might be cracks of an ice sheet over a salty ocean underneath.

All these are exciting in themselves -- but they also highlight the possibility of past or present extraterrestrial life, the critical, still elusive second data point that might change our ideas even more than the Copernican shift.

For I come from an ardent raceThat has subsisted on defiance and visions.

All these are exciting in themselves -- but they also highlight the possibility of past or present extraterrestrial life, the critical, still elusive second data point that might change our ideas even more than the Copernican shift.

No truer words--and they inspire threads of thought that are reminiscent of (and possibly tie directly into) the many layers of contemplation and discussion surrounding the idea of traveling and adapting to potentially habitable worlds.